1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixture to be employed as a fastening member for connecting boards such as siding boards to each other in a top and bottom relationship through a shiplap joint.
Recently, a large number of decorative siding boards having various surface patterns and designs are now employed in order to meet the consumer""s demands for a more sophisticatedly designed external wall of housing.
In related arts, conventionally, the decorative siding boards are attached, via an underlayment using screws or nails, to the external wall of housing with the longitudinal direction of the siding boards being oriented in the horizontal or vertical direction. However, when the decorative siding boards are fastened using screws or nails, the decorative surface of the decorative siding boards may be damaged due to the screws or nails, thereby spoiling the decorative design of the siding boards.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In a prior art, with a view to overcome the aforementioned problems, a fixture 30 as shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed as a fixture (for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication H9-203184). This fixture 30 comprises a substrate 31, a horizontal portion 32 perpendicularly projected from the substrate 31, an upwardly inclined hook portion 33A obliquely extended upward from the tip edge of the horizontal portion 32, and a downwardly inclined hook portion 33B obliquely extended downward from the tip edge of the horizontal portion 32. The fixture of this type is usually manufactured by means of the extrusion molding of aluminum in view of the moldability thereof.
As shown in FIG. 6, this fixture 30 (metallic fixture) is adapted to be fixed to an underlayment 61 by making use of screws 62 which are to be screwed into vis holes 34 formed in the substrate 31. In this case, four sides of the siding boards 40A and 40B constituting building boards to be connected together are respectively formed into a rabbeted portion for forming a shiplap connection. Specifically, the upper side and one lateral side of each siding board 40A or 40B are respectively formed into an underlying rabbeted portion, while the lower side and the other lateral side each siding board 40A or 40B are respectively formed into an overlying rabbeted portion. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the lower side of the upper siding board 40A to be connected is formed into an overlying rabbeted portion, while the upper side of the lower siding board 40B is formed into an underlying rabbeted portion. This overlying rabbeted portion is provided with an overlying tongue pattern portion 41 constituting the front side of the overlying rabbeted portion, an overlying tongue engaging portion 42 constituting the rear side of the overlying rabbeted portion, and a groove portion 43 formed between the overlying tongue pattern portion 41 and the overlying tongue engaging portion 42.
On the other hand, the underlying rabbeted portion thereof is formed at the upper side of the siding board arranged below, covered by the overlying tongue pattern portion 41, and consisted of an underlying tongue engaging portion 44 being attached to the metallic fixture 30.
The installation of the siding boards can be performed as follows. First of all, the tip edge portion of the underlying tongue engaging portion 44 of a lower siding board 40B is fitted in the lower engaging portion 50B (which is formed by a substrate 31, a horizontal portion 32 and a downwardly inclined hook portion 33B) of the metallic fixture 30 which has been attached in advance to the underlayment 61, thereby fixing the lower siding board 40B to the underlayment 61.
Then, the overlying tongue engaging portion 42 of an upper siding board 40A is fitted in the upper engaging portion 50A (which is formed by a substrate 31, a horizontal portion 32 and an upwardly inclined hook portion 33A) of the metallic fixture 30, thereby fixing the upper siding board 40A to the underlayment 61. Since the upper siding board 40A and the lower siding board 40B are connected each other in this manner, there is little possibility that the surfaces of these siding boards are damaged as in the case of fastening with screws or nails, and at the same time, the existence of the metallic fixture 30 cannot be externally recognized, thus making it possible to provide a very preferable external appearance of board siding.
There is also known, as another type of a fixture, a structure shown in FIG. 9. Namely, this fixture 70 is formed of a single piece of metal plate which has been bent into a prescribed configuration. Namely, one end portion of a metal plate 71 is horizontally bent thereby to form a first horizontal portion 72, the tip portion of which is further obliquely bent upward, thereby forming an upwardly inclined engaging portion 73. Further, the other portion of a metal plate 71 is horizontally bent thereby to form a second horizontal portion 74, the tip portion of which is further bent downward, thereby forming a downwardly inclined engaging portion 75. The first horizontal portion 72 and the second horizontal portion 74 are disposed to face each other, leaving a slight gap C therebetween, thus permitting the upwardly inclined engaging portion 73 and the downwardly inclined engaging portion 75 to be moved independently without interfering with each other (see Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication H10-148024).
This fixture 70 can be employed in the same manner as that shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. However, since the entire body of the fixture 70 is constructed through a bending work of a single metal plate 71, it exhibits a higher resistance to bending or breakage as compared with that manufactured by the extrusion molding of an aluminum material. Furthermore, since the horizontal portion thereof is constituted by a couple of horizontal portions, i.e. the first horizontal portion 72 and the second horizontal portion 74, any deformation due to the weight of siding boards to be fastened can be advantageously prevented to some extent.
By the way, FIG. 7 shows a siding board 40 as viewed from the front surface side thereof (the side to which a design is applied), the siding board 40 being provided with underlying rabbeted portions at the top side and the right side thereof and with overlying rabbeted portions at the bottom side and left side thereof. More specifically, an underlying tongue engaging portion 44A is formed horizontally at the top side of the siding board 40, while an underlying tongue engaging portion 44B is formed perpendicularly at the right side of the siding board 40. A caulking agent 45A or 45B is coated on a front surface portion of each of the underlying tongue engaging portions 44A and 44B, which is spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the inner corner portion of each of the underlying tongue engaging portions 44A and 44B.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating partially a connected state of siding boards shown in FIG. 7 which are connected in the vertical direction. In this case, the overlying rabbeted portion formed at the bottom side of the upper siding board 40A is fittingly shiplap-connected with the underlying rabbeted portion formed at the top side of the lower siding board 40B. On this occasion, a gap Sl is formed between these siding boards 40A and 40B. Further, a number of the siding boards are designed to be laterally placed on both sides (right and left sections) of the these siding boards 40A and 40B. In this case, the overlying tongue pattern portion 41A formed perpendicularly at the left side of the siding board is fittingly connected with the underlying tongue engaging portion 44B formed at the right side of the upper siding board 40A (and of the lower siding board 40B). On this occasion, a gap S2 is also formed perpendicularly between these siding boards. As seen from FIG. 8, the gap S1 extending horizontally becomes contiguous with the gap S2 extending vertically.
There is much possibility that rain water may leak into these gaps S1 and S2. However, since the caulking agent 45A applied to the front surface portion of the underlying tongue engaging portion 44A of the top side of the lower siding board 40B is caused to contact with the rear surface of the overlying tongue pattern portion 41A of the bottom side of the upper siding board 40A so as to form a sealing portion, it is possible to prevent the rain water that has been entered into the horizontal gap S1 from flowing vertically into the rear surface side of the siding board 40. Likewise, it is also possible to prevent the rain water that has been entered into the vertical gap S2 from flowing laterally into the rear surface side of the siding board 40.
On the other hand, the rain water that has been entered into the horizontal gap S1 is caused to move horizontally to reach the vertical gap S2 and to flow downward through this vertical gap S2. By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, although the metallic fixture 30 is disposed at the junction between the siding boards 40, since the inner surface of the upwardly inclined hook portion 33A of the metallic fixture 30 is closely contacted with the inclined surface of the overlying tongue engaging portion 42 of the upper siding board 40A, there is little possibility that the rain water flowing downward through the vertically extending gap S2 may leak into the-interior of the upper engaging portion 50A (a trace amount even if there is any leakage), so that the rain water is possibly caused to flow downward after passing over the top side of the upwardly inclined hook portion 33A, thereby possibly allowing the rain water to enter into the space Sa having a triangular cross-section, which is encircled by the front surface of the upwardly inclined hook portion 33A, the front surface of the downwardly inclined hook portion 33B and the rear surface of the overlying tongue pattern portion 41 of the upper siding board 40A.
As mentioned above, since a seal portion is formed between the rear surface of the overlying tongue pattern portion 41A of the bottom side of the upper siding board 40A and the front surface of the underlying tongue engaging portion 44A of the upper side of the lower siding board 40B, the rain water that has been entered into the space Sa having a triangular cross-section as mentioned above is caused to temporarily retain inside the space Sa without immediately flowing downward from the space Sa. The rain water retaining inside the space Sa is caused to move right and left, and then leaks out from the side edges of the hook portions 33A and 33B, thereby causing the rain water to flow into a space which is formed higher than the caulking agent 45A that has been applied horizontally to the front surface of the underlying tongue engaging portion 44A of the upper side of the lower siding board 40B. Even if the rain water is leaked into the upper engaging portion 50A, the rain is also caused to leak out from the side edges of the hook portions 33A and 33B or of the horizontal portion 32, thereby causing the rain water to flow into the aforementioned space. Since this space is communicated with the rear side of the siding board 40, the rain water leaked into the space is allowed to enter into the rear side of the siding board 40, thus damaging the siding boards.
The same phenomenon as mentioned above can happen in the case of the fixture 70 shown in FIG. 9. Namely, the rain water flowing down into the space Sx formed by the upwardly inclined engaging portion 73, the tip portion of the second horizontal portion 74 and the downwardly inclined engaging portion 75 is caused to retain inside the space Sx and then, is allowed to enter into the rear side of the siding board 40, thus damaging the siding boards. Further, since the fixture 70 is constructed through a bending work of a single metal plate, it exhibits a higher resistance to bending or breakage as compared with a molded product manufactured by the extrusion molding of an aluminum material as shown in FIG. 5. Furthermore, although the horizontal portion thereof is also resistive to a bending moment (vertical load), a gap is caused to be formed between the first horizontal portion 72 and the second horizontal portion 74, so that a deformation corresponding to the magnitude of the gap C may be inevitably generated in the first horizontal portion 72 due to the weight of the siding board to be fastened. Because of this, it is absolutely necessary to distribute the weight of a siding board (or a building board) to be fastened by keeping a certain lateral width of the fixture.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to overcome aforementioned problems that may be encountered in the case of the conventional fixture, and more specifically, to provide an improved fixture which is capable of positively preventing rain water from leaking into the rear side of the siding board, and at the same time, capable of suitably sustaining the load of siding boards by a horizontal portion of the fixture, which is increased in resistance against the vertical load and is formed to have a relatively short lateral width, thereby making the fixture compact in configuration having a relatively short lateral width.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact fixture which makes it possible to reduce the manufacturing cost thereof in terms of raw material cost, to facilitate the fastening of siding boards, and to stabilize the fixture to an underlayment reliably.
With a view to realize the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides a fixture for siding boards which comprises;
a substrate; a horizontal portion extended from the substrate; and an engaging portion formed at the tip portion of said horizontal portion; which is characterized in that;
said horizontal portion and said engaging portion are integrally formed through a bending work of a single plate contiguous to said substrate, and constituted at least by a first horizontal member, a vertical flat plate member contiguous to said first horizontal member, and a second horizontal member contiguous to said vertical flat plate member, said first horizontal member being piled on said second horizontal member.
In the case of the fixture according to the present invention, the rain water flowing downward through the vertical gap S2 may overflow passing over the upper edge of the vertical flat plate member, and then, flow downward along the front surface of the vertical flat plate member. Otherwise, the rain is caused to temporarily retained in a small gap formed between said vertical flat plate member and the rear surface of said siding board, thus being kept therein in an immobilized state and prevented from further entering into the gap, all of the rain thus retained is finally discharged toward the front surface of said siding board. Therefore, the rain water that has been entered through the horizontal and vertical gaps can be reliably prevented from leaking into the rear side of the siding board.
Further, the aforementioned horizontal portion and engaging portion are continuously formed through a bending work of a single plate constituting the substrate, and the first horizontal member and the second horizontal member are put together, the tip ends thereof being formed integral with the vertical flat plate member. By the way, these first horizontal member and second horizontal member may be integrally fused together by means of spot welding for instance thereby forming a piled constructure. Since the horizontal portion is constructed in this manner, the horizontal portion can be made highly resistive to the bending moment to be generated by a vertical load on the horizontal portion (the load of siding board to be fastened, which mainly acts on the upper edge portion of the vertical flat plate member), thus preventing the horizontal portion from being deformed. Furthermore, it becomes possible to fully sustain the load of siding board to be fastened even if the area of the horizontal portion is relatively small, thus making it possible to maintain a stabilized fastened state of siding boards even if the lateral width of the horizontal portion is relatively short.
As a result, the fixture can be made compact in configuration having a relatively short lateral width, thus enabling to reduce the manufacturing cost thereof in terms of raw material cost. Thus greatly alleviating the restrictions accompanied with the installation of siding boards.
According to a preferable embodiment of this fixture, the tip end of the first horizontal member is made contiguous with the vertical flat plate member through a first inclined plane extending obliquely upward from the tip end of the first horizontal member, and likewise, the tip end of the second horizontal member is made contiguous with the vertical flat plate member through a second inclined plane extending obliquely downward from the tip end of the second horizontal member, thereby forming a closed triangular space in cross-section between the tip ends of the first and second horizontal members and the vertical flat plate member. According to this embodiment, an upper siding board and a lower siding board can respectively be fastened with their shiplap connections being engaged with the vertical flat plate member and the first and second inclined planes of the fixture, thereby further stabilizing the fastened state of siding board. Additionally, since the engaging portion is constituted by a closed triangular space in cross-section, the total weight of the fixture would not be so increased, and at the same time, the resistance of the fixture to the aforementioned bending moment can be further enhanced.
Further, according to another preferable embodiment of this fixture, the substrate is featured in that it is provided with an upstanding portion at the upper edge and at the lower edge thereof, these upstanding portions being projected backward from the rear surface of the substrate, and that it is also provided with a recessed portion, which is projected rearward from the rear surface of the substrate and provided at the bottom thereof with a screw hole. As a result, an air flow passageway can be easily formed between the siding board fastened and an underlayment attached to the building frame, thus making it possible to easily prevent the generation of condensation.
These upstanding portions as well as the recessed portion projecting rearward act to further increase the toughness of the fixture, and to enhance the resistance to the bending or twisting of the fixture, thus making it possible to obtain a fixture having a desired toughness even through the entire size thereof is relatively compact.
According to another preferable embodiment of this fixture, the substrate is provided at a portion located below the horizontal portion with a cut and raised portion projected toward the engaging portion. This cut and raised portion acts as an urging means for pressing the back surface of the siding board to prevent slipping. By the provision of this cut and raised portion, the fastening between the siding board and the fixture can be further stabilized. This cut and raised portion can be formed by a process wherein a predetermined portion of the substrate is cut to form a cut portion which corresponds to two sides of a desired triangular configuration for instance, and then, this cut portion is bent to form the cut and raised portion. More preferably, a cantilever-like cut portion is formed at first in the substrate, and then, a portion of this cantilever-like cut portion is bent toward the engaging portion of the fixture, thereby forming the cut and raised portion. The cut and raised portion of this type is easy to work and has a cantilever-like configuration as a whole, it can provide a more stable urging force. More preferably, this cut and raised portion is formed respectively on the right and left sections of the substrate and bent in symmetric and obliquely upward directions. When cut and raised portions are formed in this manner, these cut and raised portions act as an anti-slipping member so as to reliably prevent the siding board from being shifted in the lateral (rightward or leftward) direction.
The specification includes part or all of the contents disclosed in the specification and/or drawings of Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 11-131340 and 11-222735, which are priority applications of the present application.